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Urticae (Nettles)

Urticae (Nettles) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of nettle greens lightly stewed with pepper, cumin and mastic. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Nettles (Urticae).

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

10 minutes

Total Time:

20 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Wild FoodSauce RecipesVegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Urticae (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) III, xvii

Urticum feminam, sole in ariete posito, adversus aegritudinem sumes, si voles.

Translation

When the sun is in the sign of Aries, female nettles may be taken against illness.

Modern Redaction

There is no recipe per se given here, however the preceding recipe for Country Herbs gives a good indication of how nettles might be cooked. As a result I have adapted that recipe here.

Ingredients:

200g young nettle leaves or nettle tops
60ml water
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
generous pinch of ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground mastic (or 1 tsp ground pistachio nuts)
1 tbsp fish sauce

Method:

Wash the leaves and set aside to dry. Combine the water, black pepper, cumin, mastic (or pistachios) and fish sauce in a pan. Bring to a boil, add the greens then cover and cook for minutes, or until the greens halve wilted. Turn into a dish and serve.
Find more recipes from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria, part of this site's Ancient Roman recipes collection.